Months after shattering his skull, IDF arrests teen in pre-dawn raid

Mohammed Tamimi, cousin of Ahed Tamimi, was released several hours later. The Israeli army arrested nine others in Nabi Saleh, and video shows soldiers spraying the village with putrid ‘skunk’ water.

By +972 Magazine Staff

Mohammed Tamimi, 15, was shot in the head with a rubber-coated bullet by the Israeli army shortly before the video of Ahed and Nur was filmed. (Activestills/Oren Ziv)
Mohammed Tamimi, 15, was shot in the head with a rubber-coated bullet by the Israeli army shortly before the video of Ahed and Nur was filmed. (Activestills/Oren Ziv)

Israeli soldiers arrested 10 young Palestinians in a pre-dawn raid on the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh early Monday, including Mohammed Tamimi, the cousin of Ahed Tamimi whom soldiers shot in the head with a rubber bullet several months ago, shattering his skull.

Mohammed is currently awaiting surgery to reconstruct the part of his skull that was removed. The Israeli army released him Monday afternoon, according to Gaby Lasky, Ahed and Nariman’s attorney.

Video of the arrest raid published by local citizen journalist Bilal Tamimi (above) also showed Israeli soldiers spraying the village with putrid ‘skunk’ water during the night-time raid. The ‘Skunk’ is meant for crowd control, but Israeli forces have been documented using it punitively against homes and schools in the past.

The now-famous video of Ahed Tamimi attempting to push two armed soldiers off of her family’s porch was filmed shortly after Mohammed was shot.

Ahed has been in Israeli military custody since her arrest on December 19, following the publication of the video. A judge ruled in January that she will remain in prison until the end of her trial. She faces 12 different charges, including incitement to violence and assaulting a soldier, which could potentially land her in prison for several years.

While the case has garnered significant international attention, the Israeli military prison system’s treatment of Ahed and Mohammed is not unique. According Palestinian human rights group Adameer, Israel was imprisoning over 300 Palestinian minors as the end of December 2017, .

Earlier this month, dozens of American cultural luminaries, including Alice Walker, Rosario Dawson, Cornel West, and Danny Glover called for Tamimi’s release.

+972 Magazine asked the IDF Spokesperson why Mohammed was arrested. No response was received by the time of publication. It will be added here if and when it is received.